Need help fine tuning fish list for 700

[Vance]

Tank is 86×48×48
Sps and lps with tasty fleshy corals like acans and scollys

Current plan
Carberryi anthias 10+/- 5 in tank
Vlamingi tang in tank(would love to trade this out for blond naso but has become member of family and think I will be shot if I trade it)
Hippo tang in tank
Achilles tang have not purchased
Chevron tang have not purchased (one I'm having issues with, worried about aggression long term and looking for alternative herbivore)
Watanbei angel in tank(if it so much as looks at a scoly funny it's out)
Quoyi parrotfish have not purchased (same as watanabei)
Small group of zebra dartfish have not purchased
Pair of green mandarins in tank (trying not to add any wrasses as these two only take live)
Couple pistol shrimp gobies have not purchased
Pearly jaw have not purchased (pair?)

 

[Vance]

The Achilles will be going in here soon. So with the tangs I have already this will be the last (knock on wood) round of tangs into the tank. Need to make a decision on the chevron....

Honestly I've even considered not adding another... So that is an option too I guess, I like the openness with just a few fish.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

If you're worried about the angel messing with scoly's, I wouldn't add them. That's alot of potential risk for one little fish.

 

[Vance]

The watanabei is already in the tank, sorry, I edited the original post.

 

[d-man]

What is your exact question regarding adding the stock list?

I think you are fine with those without the Achilles in there. Add it and it will become the dominant fish very shortly. Chevrons imo are all bark and no bite. They tend to show but not ever had anything but a flare fest.

Your angels are fine. As all geniacanthus are.

You have a relatively small bio load for that size tank even with a naso and vlamingi

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Get a Whale!

 

[eatbreakfast]

As D-man said, the Genicathus is fine with corals.

The quoyi may nip corals.

Fairy and flasher wrasses won't compete with a mandarin for pods. But in a tank that size, a few wrasses thathunt pods won't put a dent in a system that big.

The achilles will be fine.

A blonde naso would be fine too.

 

[Vance]

What is your exact question regarding adding the stock list?

I think you are fine with those without the Achilles in there. Add it and it will become the dominant fish very shortly. Chevrons imo are all bark and no bite. They tend to show but not ever had anything but a flare fest.

Your angels are fine. As all geniacanthus are.

You have a relatively small bio load for that size tank even with a naso and vlamingi

I'm so sorry for the confusion. I built this tank so I could have an Achilles, so it is his to rule haha. My issue is with the chevron... I really don't want ANY aggression


I take care of more than a couple 1000+ tanks for work all of which have WAY to many tangs now that they have matured and these fish are hitting the 10 year mark. All of the tangs look like crap. Stress has allowed HILLE to run rampant and all fish other than the dominate tang per genus is almost completely missing their dorsal fins from fighting. I don't want this in my tank...

You really think I could do a naso and vlamingi? This vlamingi has killed one small naso already. Granted it was in a 120 not a 700, but to me that hints at aggression issues when both get bigger...

 

[Vance]

Get a Whale!

Lol! I was thinking after a few years and the tangs have gotten bigger, of getting a pair of epauletts and cutting my losses if they eat the smaller fish. Just not my tangs haha.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Epaulettes really aren't fish eaters, but rather crustacean hunters.

Vlamingi and nasos really shouldn't have much aggression. Use a social acclimation box to introduce a new one to an established one.

A degree of aggression is normal if there is going to be more than one tang in a tank. Though having a big vlamingi or naso helps limit that, as they are a gentle giant for tangs, and can be at the top of the hierarchy without causing too much drama. High flow and frequent feedings also mitigate aggression among tangs.

Stress itself isn't a factor for HLLE. Carbon, stray current, diet, and water quality are all bigger contributors.

 

[Vance]

As D-man said, the Genicathus is fine with corals.

The quoyi may nip corals.

Fairy and flasher wrasses won't compete with a mandarin for pods. But in a tank that size, a few wrasses thathunt pods won't put a dent in a system that big.

The achilles will be fine.

A blonde naso would be fine too.

For the quoyi... by nip do you mean like dwarf angel nipping where they target particular corals because they like to eat them? Or more like a tang sampling? I may have to rethink that one. I'm not going to tolerate dwarf angel style targeting of corals even for a quoyi... I really like the disposition of tile fish, that might be a viable alternative to the quoyi...

Ah, flasher wrasses are my favorite!! You really think there will be enough pods? My mandarins spawn every night, would hate for the show (and consistent source of zooplankton) to stop because the female isn't getting enough calories.

 

[eatbreakfast]

For the quoyi... by nip do you mean like dwarf angel nipping where they target particular corals because they like to eat them? Or more like a tang sampling? I may have to rethink that one. I'm not going to tolerate dwarf angel style targeting of corals even for a quoyi... I really like the disposition of tile fish, that might be a viable alternative to the quoyi...

Ah, flasher wrasses are my favorite!! You really think there will be enough pods? My mandarins spawn every night, would hate for the show (and consistent source of zooplankton) to stop because the female isn't getting enough calories.

Quoyi parrots sample, but they have a beak and powerful jaws, so even a bite out of curiosity can be quite damaging.

Flasher and fairy wrasses eat from the water column, not by picking off of the rock and substrate. So absolutely no competition to mandarins.

 

[Vance]

Epaulettes really aren't fish eaters, but rather crustacean hunters.

Vlamingi and nasos really shouldn't have much aggression. Use a social acclimation box to introduce a new one to an established one.

A degree of aggression is normal if there is going to be more than one tang in a tank. Though having a big vlamingi or naso helps limit that, as they are a gentle giant for tangs, and can be at the top of the hierarchy without causing too much drama. High flow and frequent feedings also mitigate aggression among tangs.

Stress itself isn't a factor for HLLE. Carbon, stray current, diet, and water quality are all bigger contributors.

This is true about the epauletts, but are you trying to tell me they wont pick off an easy small sleeping fish here there being nocturnal hunters? They're still sharks...

I agree with what you say about HILLE, but I cannot rule out stress as a contributing factor to lateral line erosion... I've seen tanks where everything other than the dominant tang in a severely cramped space has some sort of degradation. And I would still like to have all my tangs Dorsal fins intact...

 

[eatbreakfast]

I wouldn't consider an eppaulette hunting to be much of a threat to established fish. The fish will have their hideaways and won't be releasing stress hormones, so uless the fish is sick or a small benthic species, or the shark isn't properly fed, it won't hunt your fish.

Yes, stress can make HLLE worse, but it isn't created by stress, only exascerbated. Eliminate the cause of HLLE and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Vance]

I made a decision! So here's an update.

I added a very large 8"+ fat eating well naso that we have had in the shop for over a month, and 4" foxface. The vlamingi terrorized both and the naso was found dead in less than 48 hrs.

So... pulled the vlamingi she is headed to the Denver aquarium.

Add in one fell swoop

Naso
Chevron
Achilles
Maculiceps

Everyone has been in a week and settled well, eating constantly, and nice and calm (knock on wood that it lasts for years to come!). Only problem is 700 gallons and all 12 swimming fish all hang out in the same corner waiting for food lol!

 

[PatW]

Parrotfish have powerful beaks. They can and do bite chunks out of hard corals and swallow them. They poop the end product of digestion as fine carbonate sand. I think that is where most of the sand comes from for beaches in the Caribbean. Given these facts, I personally would not keep a parrotfish in a reef aquarium. Your mileage may very.

 

[Vance]

Parrotfish have powerful beaks. They can and do bite chunks out of hard corals and swallow them. They poop the end product of digestion as fine carbonate sand. I think that is where most of the sand comes from for beaches in the Caribbean. Given these facts, I personally would not keep a parrotfish in a reef aquarium. Your mileage may very.

They do! And you are absolutely right, that is where a majority of aragonite sand comes from. However there have been rumors flying around for more than a few years now that the species I mentioned has no interest in munching Coral.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Quoyi parrots have proven to be quite reef safe.

 

[evolved]

Is the tank glass or acrylic? You don't want a Quoyi in an acrylic tank - they'll leave bite marks all over the panels.

 

[Vance]

Glass [emoji16]. The sides and non glass panels, are coated in a marine-grade epoxy, it is strengthened with a Kevlar composite... I wanted to make sure that I could have urchins sometime down the line without exposing the toxic epoxy used for the fiberglass mat. I am fully confident that it can withstand the rasping of urchins... the beak on a quoyi kind of makes me nervous though.